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AW: [RC] Need opinions - Hilga HöfkensDear Julie, thanks for sharing that story about the mare that got a ruptured stomach. I used to learn from the more experienced riders, not to feed concentrates at a check. Rather stick to grass (1st choice), hay (peferably wet to increse water intake) or beetpulp (really soupy for same reason). The reason for no concentrates seemed to be, not to use up any of the much needed liquid to digest dry matter, and not to load the digestive system with too much food, in case this shunting away of blood would occur later (to fend off the risk of impaction-colic). So I would really like to know what your horse ate at the stop. Would it be possible to overload with hay or grass? I let my mare eat as much as she wants, and at some holds she never stops grazing or munching hay (we usually have 45min max.) Would that possibly do any harm, or is the intake of these foodstuffs too slow to overload? Thanks for any input. Hilga from Germany -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]Im Auftrag von Marinera@xxxxxxx Gesendet: Sonntag, 16. Februar 2003 21:22 An: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Betreff: [RC] Need opinions My original question was hypothetical, but some of the responses have been really educational. I particularly refer to Susan Garlinghouse's when she said "........... you have some issues with blood circulation being shunted away from the digestive tract (at the bottom of the circulatory pecking order). ........ All that blood shunting to muscles and skin surfaces means it's being shunted away from the GI tract, and thus motility is compromised. " I lost a horse after a ride (which I devote a chapter to in my book). This horse never stopped eating for the entire one hour hold. She left the noon vet check with a full stomach and was asked to go another 25 miles. She passed the midway short hold just fine. She passed the finish line vet check just fine. I think we were around 33rd place out of 65 horses. But she never ate or drank another drop and was euthanized ten hours later because of a ruptured stomach (not intestine) which I am told is fairly rare. I am also told it can run in families and in her case, this was true. I have always felt that if I had rationed her feed at the noon vet check, this would not have happened and Susan's post sheds some light on it. In my opinion, I compromised the digestive tract by shunting the blood to muscles and skin surface by riding her with an overloaded stomach. Since then, at an hour hold, I would much rather see my horse eat for 20 to 30 minutes and then nap. I know this is not the conventional wisdom, but I throw it out there because Ridecamp is at the moment focused on education and perhaps we can all learn something. Besides Susan, I also pay particular attention to any posts from Kat Swigart and others who seems to very experienced and knowledgeable. Julie Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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